Connect Ventures

Marvel, the U.K. startup that lets you turn sketches into mobile app “prototypes”, has picked up a new $2 million ‘seed extension’ round of funding. The company is also rolling out two new features: a user testing feature, and an online community where Marvel-created prototypes can be uploaded and shared. Read More

Knyttan, the London-based on-demand fashion startup and graduate of Techstars London, has picked up £2 million in seed funding to help it disrupt the garment production industry. London-based Connect Ventures, who are perhaps best known for being an early backer of Citymapper, led the round, with participation from Frederic Court’s new fund Felix Capital, Playfair Capital, and… Read More

Back in April, Marvel — the UK startup that lets you turn sketches into app “prototypes” — had just one and half month’s runway left after burning through the majority of a £60,000 investment. At one point, the burgeoning company even took out a Wonga payday-style loan to stay afloat whilst frantically re-writing the service to help keep up with demand. Today… Read More

A bit like waiting for a London bus, you wait forever to pitch a London VC, and then eleven turn up at once.
In what appears to be somewhat unprecedented, and perhaps signals a new era of co-operation, eleven London VCs have joined forces to hold a shared office hours this Wednesday, offering a fantastic opportunity for local startups to (finally) get in front of and pitch to a VC. Read More

To date, Facebook has focused the majority of its revenue efforts on ads, and, to a lesser extent, payment services around apps that run on its social platform. But Facebook commerce, where users buy physical or other good not connected to apps, is one area where Facebook has not done much– yet. In the meantime the social network becoming a revenue driver for third parties, including… Read More

Make way for another VC firm in Europe: Today sees the launch of Connect Ventures, a new London based fund that will focus on seed and Series A stages in European tech companies. It’s kicking off with a €16 million ($22 million) fund, which will be dispersed in investments of between €250,000 and €1.25 million ($330k-$1.7m).
Led by co-founders Pietro Bezza and Bill Earner… Read More